The book thief, by Marcus Zusak

The narrator of this story is Death, and if it seems strange and awkward at the opening of the book, just try to stay with it for a while till it starts to work. It's a Holocaust story, and Death plays a large role and his perspective is interesting as well. This is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl trapped in the ever tightening noose of Nazi control. As her world becomes more dangerous she finds solace in books and the only way to get them is to steal them. Her books and her courage are haunting.

How I live now, by Meg Rosoff

This is a dystopian novel without a hint of fantasy or science fiction. It's a realistic story of 5 teens in wartime - cut off from any outside help and caught in an ever tightening noose of deprivation. The story is narrated by 15-year-old Daisy, who has escaped a hated life in New York with her recently remarried father and pregnant step-mother. Shortly after her arrival in the English countryside to visit her loving aunt (her dead mother's sister) and 4 cousins, her aunt is killed, the war erupts, and all of their lives are forever altered.

Cut off from outside information, media, supplies, with rumors raging, and facing the fear of an uncertain future, Daisy and her cousin Edmund draw close. As fear, hunger and deprivation mount, their relationship grows in equal measure - love balancing terror.

Love and war leave indelible scars in a powerful and moving story.

Ender's game & Ender's shadow, by Orson Scott Card

I read Ender's shadow several years ago when it was on the Abe list, and enjoyed it a lot. It's taken a while, but I finally got back to the series, and this time read Ender's game, which is the 1st book in the series. These books essentially tell the same story from the perspectives of two different characters, and both are excellent.

Earth has been under alien attack for almost a hundred years, and the next attack is imminent. On earth, humans have genetically engineered children with military genius, and these children are sent to a space station battle school, where they are taught military strategy. Ender Wiggins is the world's best hope to survive, but he is young (six, at the story's opening) and has a lot to learn in a short time. His teachers manipulate behind the scenes, and the older students resent Ender's advancement as Ender struggles to survive the war games that take up most of the battle school curriculum.

Ender's shadow concerns Ender's right hand child commander, Bean.

These are science fiction at it's best - but don't take my word for it. They are on every core collection list I've ever seen and have won numerous awards for Science fiction. Great stuff!

City of bones, City of Ashes & City of glass, by Cassandra Clare

This is a trilogy that weaves a complicated fantasy. Clary has been raised in New York by her artist mother and her mother's circle of friends. But as she turns 16 she learns that all is not as it appears. An evening in a club with her friend Simon is the lifechanging moment when a whole new world opens up to Clary and she learns that she is a shadowhunter - a race gifted with the ability to see demons and trained to battle them. But Clary has no such training, and as events spiral out of control she needs to learn fast how to survive. Children of the moon (werewolves), of the night (vampires), of Lilith (witches), and of Faerie all have their roles and must unite with the help of angels to defeat the army of demons being raised by Clary's own father, Valentine. Loyalties are forged and tested, and always there is love. The love between Clary and shadowhunter Jace, love between Clary and her best friend Simon, whose life takes a tragic turn when he is bitten by a vampire. Love between Clary's mother and Lucian, an ex-shadowhunter now turned werewolf. A powerful story well told.

(See September blog of City of Bones)

Pride of Baghdad, by Brian K. Vaughan & art by Niko Henrichon (Graphic Novel)

"In April of 2003, four lions escaped the Baghdad Zoo during the bombing of Iraq. The starving animals were eventually shot and killed by U.S. soldiers." These are the final words in this moving graphic novel that tells the lions' story. The author and illustrator imbue the lions with majesty, dignity, and pride. We follow the story of the lions from their captivity in the zoo, through their struggle to survive in the middle of the bombing, their search for food and shelter in the bombed out city, and if their death does not move the reader, the reader doesn't have a heart.

City of thieves, by David Benioff

City of thieves is a World War II story that takes place in Russia during the Siege of Leningrad. The Germans have Leningrad cut off, and the people still surviving are starving and desperate. Two young men, one an army deserter and one arrested as a looter, are about to be executed when they are given a reprieve. Lev and Kolya can find a dozen eggs for an NKVD colonel to use for his daughter's wedding cake and live. Or fail, and die. So the two set off on an impossible 4 day quest that takes them through the frozen city, through the surrounding countryside, and eventually behind German lines in search of the eggs that will save their lives.
This is part war tale, part coming of age story, part adventure and love story. It is brutal and funny, touching and always entertaining.